1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates to an inkjet recording apparatus having ejection outlets ejecting ink.
2. Description of Related Art
In an ink inkjet recording apparatus having an inkjet head in which two or more ejection outlets are formed to eject ink therefrom, the ink ejected from the inkjet head to a recording medium may not be properly deposited on the medium. In this regard, a conventional approach is such that a chart for detecting the misfiring of ink is printed by each nozzle, and the chart is read out by a reading unit constituted by a line sensor and the like. Which nozzle is misfiring is determined by analyzing the read data.
Several reasons are conceivable why ink is not properly deposited on a recording medium. For example, ink is not properly ejected from the ejection outlets because there is something wrong in the inkjet head. Another example is that something obstructing the flight of ink adheres to the inkjet head. As such, to solve the problem of improper deposition of ink on a recording medium, it is necessary to take a suitable action corresponding to the cause of the problem. The aforesaid conventional approach, however, does not make it possible to determine what is a proper action, because determined according to the conventional approach is merely whether each nozzle is misfiring or not. For this reason, the conventional approach may not be sufficient to properly solve the problem of improper deposition of ink from the inkjet head to a recording medium.